Cutting off negative people is a big challenge but it’s not easy. So some Christians cut off negative people for some reasons. Some Christians say that cutting off negative people is worth it, because they want to take heed on their spiritual relationship with God first and read the bible to grow their faith in the Lord. Some Christians mention that they cut off people in order that they do not want to end up like the worldly (or two-minded) people. Cutting off negative people does not mean that you hate them or that you are a mean person. It helps Christians to back off that person’s own sins. They want to stay in their relationship with God and give themselves some self-examination while walking with God. Even so, Christians always love people; nonetheless, they need to be safe and stay in peace spiritually and mindfully.
My experience about cutting off one of my family relatives is somewhat painful but it makes me brave to do this. Our dear Lord needs me to focus on my relationship with Him and walk in faith with Him daily. I am not perfect. I am not a bad person. I am not a terrible person. A few days after Thanksgiving day, I cut off one of my sons. He is my first adult son; I am very sad that he is falling into some dangerous sinful habits. He is harshly disobedient to me as his mother. He is trying to humiliate me in any way in the front of people. He does write his posts in his social media about me. He has a lot of behavioral issues including being manipulative, furthermore his wife seems that she does not care at all. I am a little bit ashamed how my son behaves badly. My family and I forgive him many times, even though he does act careless and lacks his self-control. As the consequence, it’s my time to walk away from my son and that I let God work on him. I wouldn’t help nor support my son financially and emotionally anymore. God wants me to rest and He does not want me to get in His way. I am confided in that our Lord is taking care of my son and his wife while I am helping other people at the church and women’s ministry. Everyday, the Lord reminds me not to worry about that much, He is working. My family and I continue to pray for my son and his wife.
If you are thinking about cutting off negative people, you have to make sure that you forgive for what she or he has done to you. And tell to that person you decide to cut off and move on because you might need to focus your faith in God and read the bible every day. Remember that you do not have to feel so much guilty about cutting off that person you believe may be ungrateful or disobedient. Loving that person is okay but be wise to avoid negative person so you will be humbly blessed from our Lord.
7 Bible Verses About Cutting Off Negative People
- Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galations 5:19-21, NKJV).
- Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, (1 Corinthians 6:9, NKJV).
- These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthains 2:13, NKJV).
- But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. (2 Timothy 3:1-9).
- casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5, NKJV).
- If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5, NKJV).
- And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2, NKJV).
Related Articles To Cutting Off Negative People
- How to Protect Yourself from These 10 Toxic People
- 7 Bible Verses about Giving the Lord Your Problems
- 10 Bible Verses to Forgive Yourself
- 7 Bible Verses about Comfort through Hard Times
- Bishop T.D. Jakes – It’s Ok To Cut Someone Out Of Your Life
- Bishop T.D. Jakes – Cutting off Someone (TikTok Video)
{This post is linking up in the directory}
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Hm. . . I’m not sure what I think about this. I think that it can be important to put space between you and toxic people. I’m not sure that I believe in cutting people completely out of my life as I think that being in their life shines Christ’s light for them. They can choose to see it or not but it’s there for them.
Calleen, thank you for your feedback 🙂
I have experienced and wrestled with this issue many times during my life. It is even a recent thought in my life. You have presented verses on sin, but not cutting them off. Ephesians 5:11-12 say we are to have nothing to do with fruitless deeds, and this follows what most people don’t read beyond in verses 7-9 where we are told to “have nothing to do with them”. In the Gospels, Jesus ate with the tax collectors and sinners and the Pharisees were outraged at Jesus’ scandalous behaviour. But we find it is the Pharisees claiming a moral high ground they do not possess. When we read the Gospel of John (3:33), we see that John believes that the Father is truth and Jesus teaches only what the Father has given him (8:40; 18:37).
We find in scripture a patient God who is longsuffering, wanting all to come to know and accept him. God is a God of second chances, and we see this in Daniel 8:12 where the nation of Israel threw God’s truth to the ground, and in 9:13 says “Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favour of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.”
Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:44 to love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. I do not see where Jesus lets us cut loose toxic people. We find in 1 Corinthians 5:11 where Paul tells the Corinthian church to not associate with the “immoral brother”, but all to often we fail to harmonize what Paul said against the volume of scripture that calls us to reconciliation, and we don’t connect the immoral brother of 1 Corinthians 5:11 to 2 Corinthians 2:5-8 where it may be the immoral brother who has been punished, corrected and reconciled back into the community of the church.
I am inclined to believe that is it our human pride and emotions that get in the way of the job God has for us to do. And that is to love, even our enemies
Jesus response to toxic people is evident in his address to the Pharisees, where he identifies them with their behavior, such as in the example of calling them brood of vipers. Their behavior is reflective of the kingdom they serve, not just in deed, but in heart. All throughout proverbs wisdom is continually warning us to depart from evil, to gain wisdom and understanding with proper application, such as in the reality that a little leaven, leavens the whole lump of dough. He also works overtime to prepare and warn us of false prophets and false teachers, and above all else to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We are also reminded in Ephesians that our war is not against flesh and blood, but against a spiritual enemy. In the end, he instructed us to obey the spirit of God, who is our teacher and counselor, and with us always – to seek him in every situation, and to use wisdom and discernment. Paul discusses not violating our conscience, the instruction that we receive from the spirit of God and our spirit who is to be submitted to God fully.
I think people often interpret the Bible and scripture in black-and-white terms and most of the time it is not that. That’s not to say that there isn’t clarity, but just because it is necessary to remove a severely toxic person from your life, does not mean that that is a permanent installment, nor does it mean that love looks like passivity and ignoring destructive and dangerous acts that not only violate the person, but violate their conscience and violate the heart of God. God is not an enabler, but he is wonderfully merciful, but that does not mean that he condones abuse and misuse of his other children. Anybody who differentiates between physical abuse and psychological or emotional abuse is severely misjudging the impact of all these forms of abuse. The church needs to be more educated on abuse and how to address it appropriately without victim, shaming, in accurately differentiating between different types of abuse, when every type of abuse is dangerous, especially once it has become habitual. I would never advise somebody to remain in an abusive relationship while the abuse is continuing. Often folks fail to remember that heinous act like this often don’t happen within a vacuum, and often are not visible to outsiders.. But they are often accompanied by many more abusive tactics and techniques that are all used to break the victim down and to steal kill and destroy, control or gain whatever the perpetrator is looking for. When a person is enduring, repeated and severe abuse of any kind, their minds and hearts and realities are typically very clouded and generally not in a position to love the perpetrator through that. What would be incredible to see is the body of Christ coming around both of the individuals to help and offer support for recovery, healing and peace. People still have free Will and just because you love them through their abuse does not mean that they will choose to look at the truth, and in many cases, they will not because it is enabling terrible behavior that they are often very familiar with and see no reason to change. Usually, this is a huge blind spot for them, and in general, their eyes are blinded to the truth. To make things even more complicated abusers often are dealing with mind, control, and programming that does not respond to the typical supports and resources that other abusers without said complications may respond to. I think people get so hung up on the legalities of the scripture and it becomes about religion and not about relationship with Christ. Abusers don’t just rob people of their lives, but they often robbed them of their relationships with Christ and the purity of how they see God, as well as their health as a lot of of abuse, especially psychological can cause long-term and chronic illness.
My suggestion to any believer in this situation,is to obey the word of Christ by coming to him and taking his yolk on you and giving him your yoke of bondage. Ask him what you are to do in the situation, and use wisdom, because the call of God and his voice will never speak anything contrary to true wisdom; and he will never break a bruised reed or extinguish a barely burning wick. Either way, listen for his voice and instruction, and then do that. God is infinitely creative and often solves problems in ways that we didn’t even know were possible, or that appear utterly hopeless to us. But he always instruct us to not lean on our own understanding, but to lean on his because the kingdom of God not only comes in power, but operates according to a different set of standards and laws as established by Yahweh. Please do not allow anybody to impose their personal situations on yours as that is presumptive sin. And to everyone and anyone who has been shamed, ostracized, and abandoned by the church on account of abuse you’ve endured, I am genuinely sorry and pray that Yeshua would heal every wound in your soul and spirit. I encourage you to invite the Holy Spirit and your spirit to search you and help you walk through any residual unforgiveness of the church, so that you can be reunited to the body of Christ, wherever Christ may lead you to do that. I wish you well and bless and honor you in Jesus Christ..
First Joyce, thank you for linking up at Friday Fellowship! This is such a difficult topic. There is a family member who we’ve had to “cut off” for periods of time, because if not, we would always end up enabling. This person was so manipulative that somehow we would end up feeling bad and come to the rescue, and he would never learn their own lessons. When he stopped manipulating, we welcomed him back into our life. I believe your intent here is good. Being a believer does not mean we are doormats, or that we cannot put space between ourselves and others. This is why abuse is so rampant in the church. I say, establish strong boundaries. You didn’t mention if your son is a believer, and if he is, Matthew 18:15-20 details how to deal with a brother who has sinned against you. It says if it cannot be resolved, if the person won’t even listen to the church, treat them as a Gentile (or unbeliever). If that’s the case, or if he is an unbeliever, you can love him from afar, as you state you are. If you haven’t already, I suggest you read the book Boundaries. I am praying for you as I know how heart-wrenching this has to be on you and your family.
We raised him to be a believer and taught him the way he should go. He still ended up being very entitled. We do love him and pray for him, we just can’t deal with the antics and shenanigans.
I believe that every situation is different but that at some point you have to come to the end of yourself and realize that if that person brings you nothing but anger and pain nothing Godly can come of it. And you’ve done all you know to do, walking away is not wrong. Sometimes God uses it to bring you back together and make it stronger and sometimes it’s a leap of faith you take knowing that even Jesus could not preach in his own town. Sometimes getting out of the way allows someone more capable to step in and do good. It doesn’t dim your light. It allows it to shine brighter for others.
Thank you for your feedback, hopefully, that is the case in this situation.
Remember, the hand of God is working behind the scene. You do what the Holy Spirit tells you. I am in similar situation since I became a Christian. I am glad you are here doing this blog. As Christians, we are here to shine His light to others till The Lord Jesus Christ returns. You are going through tribulation because Father God is a good God and He is faithful! Praying with you…
These two verses had always helped me during this time.😊
Proverbs 3:11-12
2 Corinthians 5:7
Hi Joyce. I clicked you link because I’ve heard of another being outspoken about this. I can imagine this was a difficult choice for the two if you. Especially now he is an adult. Don’t forget 1 Corinthians that says Christians are to put out professing believers if they won’t repent. The world will still act like the world, but we are to minister to them. Don’t miss out on ministry to your son. Praying for you
Holl, thank you for your comment. God bless you 🙂
I understand that putting distance between yourself and toxic people, especially if they hinder you from doing what God calls you to do. Boundaries, for the most part, will actually push severely toxic people away. They don’t want to be around someone they can’t control.
What I don’t see is how these Scriptures tell us to cut negative people out of our lives. They only define evil and sin.
You see, Jesus said,
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
It’s kind of hard to do this if we shut them out of our lives completely. Seeking God for where He wants us to go is what we must do. After all, He knows who will trip us up or who will benefit from our encounters. Therefore, seeking God and learning to hear Him is the absolute best thing we can do.
My daughter is the same she keeps so much to her self hurts family by barrowing money and refuses to pay back or makes up excuses to try to justify her actions. I love her and try to help but she never take responsibility for her part. She has asked me to help her and I have taken out loans and never remembers them again so I keep paying. I believe she is on drugs never has admitted to it, but I think so .